Collective Memories
by AccidentalShadows
Summary: (takes place before Colossus is wmagneto)Colossus returns to his homeland of Russia with the X-Men on a mission to stop a dangerous force, when he encouters an old friend that puts him in touch with the demons of his past, that create demons in his future
1. Homeward Bound

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men… I don't own Colossus (but just you wait until I take over the world…THEN HE'LL BE MINE!) but until then all I own is Anastasia Vasnieack. That's right. She's MY character.

Ok people, it's been awhile since I've motivated my lazy butt and actually worked on anything, so I've decided to work on this. I came up with story since I LOVE Colossus and I've always wanted to do something with one of my Russian characters. Now I know this isn't really evolution, but I fear that's it's just not enough of the comic book to stick it in that section either. But for anyone who cares, Colossus (Peter) wasn't the bad Magneto crony you might think he was, he was actually quite the "nice guy" that just wanted to do the right thing, but was also grieving the loss of his sister. Anywho, I want to make a few comments. First off this takes place in Russia, so there will be Russian dialect. It is written with the Russian alphabet and will be EXTREMELY hard to read if you don't know Russian. For this I am sorry, but I'm not sure how else to do this. It might change if I really don't like how it works. But not to fear, there aren't that many hard parts…I assure you.

Chapter 1: Homeward Bound

Peter fidgeted restlessly in his seat as he glanced out the window of the X-Jet at the land far below, every now and then. It was odd seeing such a giant of a man squirm about like a schoolboy waiting for the last bell to ring. He was almost nervous, a slight uneasiness mixed with excitement and almost a sense of joy settled in his stomach. They were growing closer and closer to the one place that caused this weird sense of uncertainty in him, a feeling that though he was not unaccustomed to, he never particularly liked to feel.

From across the isle Kitty noticed Peter's anxiety, and wondered what could be bothering the "man of steel". He was normally a laid back person, a calm person, sound and strong, but now he seemed to be preoccupied, distant even. What she was more concerned about was what was testing his nerves. Whatever it was, it was starting to get to her too.

"We'll be approaching the landing sight soon." Announced Cyclops as the jet started to slow. Scott and Storm looked back at Peter from the front of the jet. Peter pretended not to notice the signs of support his teammates were attempting to show him, by starring out the window. The ground looked icy and the terrain appeared bleak. Soon he would be stepping out into the cold air and frigid temperatures, but against his metal skin he would physically feel nothing. He would step out into the smell of burning wood and the collective sound of farm animals resting in their stalls. His eyes, ears, and nose would drink up these details of a place he once so dearly loved. A place he once called home.

"We're here. Everyone out." Said Scott sternly to the rest of the jet's occupancies.

"Ust-Ordynski Collective, near Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia" Peter said to him self still staring out the window. Everyone else had begun to prepare them selves for the cold which lay out side and the trek to the farm collective from the warmth of the jet.

"Come on Peter, time to get going." Said a voice at his side. Peter broke out of his thoughts and turned around to face Kitty smiling brightly. He smiled gently back at her.

"I'm coming," he replied getting out of his seat. He towered above her at six feet six inches, and with a slouch, walked to the front of the plane and exited in line with everyone else.

"Peter?" Kitty said as he helped her down from the jet.

"Yes?" he said once they were safely on the ground and had begun to move towards the farm.

"You use to live in Russia, so you can translate if we need help right?" she asked as they walked along.

"Kitty, this is my home. This is were I used to live before I came to America. I grew up here." He said starring off towards their final destination. A hint of sadness tainted his voice as he responded to her, and his eyes were still distant. Kitty said nothing in reply. She now understood why he had seemed so nervous, and why he had been so quiet. "It's ok. I don't mind that you asked." He said to her almost as if he had known what she had been thinking.

"Peter, we need you to translate, so we'd appreciate it if you approached first." Said Scott from the front of the group. Peter almost rolled his eyes. Scott had made it seem as if they were sneaking up on a group of savages instead of a peaceful little collective, but silently he moved to the front of the group and prepared himself for the flood of memories he was sure to encounter.


	2. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but Ana is mine.

Next chapter. I know, I know, the first chapter wasn't that great but I'm trying…really I am. Like I said before, watch out for the Russian dialect. It gets kind of tricky, but you're smart. You'll figure it out. I hope. Moving on, I'm playing around with this story so only god knows how long it will take me but like I said I'm trying.

Chapter 2: Reunion

The collective grew larger and larger as it came into full view. There were small modest cottages, each with their own chimney billowing with smoke. Modest barns and stables with farm yards connecting most of cottages into one small but sound community.

"Nikolaievitch? NIKOLAIEVITCH!" shouted a voice from somewhere inside of a near by barn. Peter turned just in time to see a girl a few years younger than him run out of the barn and almost knock him to the ground. The strange girl hugged him tightly around the waist, then pushed upward on her heals to kiss him once on each cheek and laughed. "It's you Nikolaievitch. I thought I'd never see you again. I'm so happy you've come back. Zo much has happened and…" she paused and let go of him enough so that she look could look up at him "Vell zhere vill be time to talk. I'm just zo happy to see you again." She said with relief in her voice.

The rest of the X-Men looked at Peter with confusion. Kitty's eyebrow was raised with discontent at the rather 'friendly' girl.

"Who is this Peter?" asked Kitty breaking the moment of silence. "and why is she calling you 'Nikolaievitch?'"

Peter's surprise quickly gave way to laughter and then to a bright smile as he looked at his friends' faces and placed his own arms around the girl to give her a hug. "This is my good friend Anastasia. She and I grew up together here in the collective. I guess you could say we have allot of history together." Kitty's face still held its distain. Peter's smile faded slightly at her reaction. "My middle name is Nikolaievitch. Ana has just always called me that."

"Come, come you must all come in a get warm. Nikolaievitch, you must come see my parents. They have not zeen you in zo long!" said Anastasia, cheerfully ushering everyone to one of the cottages. The group shuffled their way into the small home in a quiet manner. None of them had expected such treatment. They were there for a reason, for a mission, not for a homecoming. Scott shot Peter a warning glance. They were not to be here long. There was something dangerous going on around them, and they couldn't afford a family chat.

"Mama! Piotr! " shouted Ana once the team had managed to tightly squeeze them selves into the small sitting room of the cabin. "I'll be back in vone moment. Zhey probably can't hear me." She said still smiling as she left the room and disappeared into another part of the house. Peter smiled shyly as Kitty continued to scowl.

"Piotr" said a short but round woman with a rosy face and graying hair half covered by a scarf as she came rushing into the room with arms wide spread. She tightly embraced what she could get of her arms around him and then pulled him down to her level to kiss him once on each cheek. "мы так радуемся, что Вы дома. мы тосковали без Вас так. мы читали о ваших путешествиях и очень гордимся Вами. Вы вернули хорошее название к коллективу." She spoke in russian with a raspy voice that was aged and tired, but never the less drained of any enthusiasm.

"Я имею честь вернуться и сделать Вас гордыми" Peter answered in Russian as well. The rest of the x-men looked at Peter almost oddly. They knew he was Russian and had always had a little trouble with his English, but never had they actually heard him speak in Russian. "где - ваш муж?"

"он был болен в течение некоторого времени теперь и не может подняться с постели. Вы можете видеть его достаточно скоро. Они должны быть удивительными x-мужчинами, о которых я слышал так." She said.

Peter, still smiling nodded his head and then almost seemed to jump as if he'd forgotten something. "Sorry everyone. I suppose I should translate. This is, well you can call her Mrs. Vasnieack. She says hello. She also says her husband is ill so he is in bed, but she is happy to meet the famous X-Men."

Most of the team smiled and nodded their heads at the old women. They had no idea what to say, and most defiantly no way to say, so silence just seemed the best way to handle the situation.

"Peter. I'm afraid we can't stay long. We have a job to do." Scott said quietly to Peter as he placed his hand on the tall Russian's shoulder. Once again Peter nodded in response.

"I'll tell them we have to go." He turned to look down at the small but happy looking woman. "я сожалею, но мы должны пойти. мы должны вернуться все же. Сказать Ana я буду говорить с нею снова, как только я могу."

"No, take…Ana…vith you." Replied Mrs. Vasnieack painstakingly. As she finished her sentence she smiled broadly at the now confused group. Peter's jaw lay open.

"I've been teaching her English. Didn't you notice me speaking it vhen I first saw you?" said a voice from the door way into the next room. Everyone in the room turned to see Ana leaning against the woodwork of the doorway with a gratified look on her face. She seemed much calmer than before. "I've been teaching myself and now I started teaching Mama. I thought it might be a good thing to know."

"Peter we can't take anyone with us." Said Scott concerned with what the old woman had said. He turned to look at Ana. "We're here on a matter of protection to you and your country, we can not take on new member's"

"She doesn't vant you to make me an X-Men, she vants me to help you vith your mission as vell as finding your vay about the area."

"That's why we have Peter, and I'm sorry but it would just be too dangerous for you to come and-"

Ana almost seemed to become agitated. "Zhere is a snow storm coming you'll never be able to go out in a Russian snowstorm. Zhere's no vay you'll be able to go out tonight." Ana smiled a bit but her eyes were serious. "At least stay the night. Like I said the veather is getting bad, and you can leave first thing in the morning vith fresh supplies." She was grave and solemn, as if something was bothering her deeply. Peter looked to Scott with question. He wanted badly to stay and be with the people that lived so dangerously in his memories. He wanted to walk through the old collective and remember what it was once like to live simply as a normal person. He just wanted to be home. Scott's face registered a contemplative look, as he feverishly thought through his decision. It was obvious he didn't really want to stay, but he realized the dangers of snowstorms and the longing desires of being home.

"We have to leave FIRST thing in the morning." He said sternly. Ana's face perked up along with Peter's at Scott's approval. She smiled at him from across the room as the rest of the team began to clear the room at the command of the small, strong Russian woman, in preparation for where they were going to sleep. As Peter started to aid the rest of the group, Ana approached him.

"You and I have allot of catching up to do Nikolaievitch." She said quietly.


	3. Confessions Of the Ressurected

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed…I still own nothing.

Alrighty now, no Russian thins time. Just good old fashioned English. I don't really have that much to waste your time on this go around. So I'll just get right to the story. I will say though, that this chapter has a very corny sounding ending, so for that I'm sorry. I just couldn't think of any other way to end this chapter. Well I hope you like it anyway…

Chapter #3: Confessions Of The Resurrected

The wind whipped the side of the old wooden barn, trying to sway it, to move it, to uproot it. But the little building held fast to the spot it had stood in for a great number of years. It was modest barn, a dirt floor covered by straw, bales of hey and troths of water sat by the closed stables that each contained their own tenets of horses, cows, sheep and other assorted livestock. It was a cozy building, gently lit be old kerosene lanterns, and heated by the warmth of the groupings of animals. Ana loved to sit in the barn. She had played and worked most of her life in the small building and loved it's sweet smell of hey and it's calming noise of a random bleating sheep, or whinnying horse. She could think of no better place to sit and recollect past happenings with one of her oldest and dearest friends.

"Nikolaievitch, I hoped you vould come like I asked." She said somewhat quietly as Peter entered the open end of the stable where she was nestled on to a bale of straw.

He nodded his head at her with a warm smile. "I should really be back at the house with the team. If they discover I'm gone they'll be upset." He said sitting down next to her.

"Oh, I think they'll be just fine vithout you for a little bit. I vanted to talk to you about a few zhings." Her voice had become serious at the end of her statement. Her eyes seemed to go distant as Peter's had once been on the jet. "I remember vhen you first vent to America. Mama told me you vere zhere for art old school. She didn't vant to alarm me, to scare me, for me to think zhere vas some zhing wrong vith you." Ana hinted at an ironic laugh, but her eyes were focused on her memories. "But I knew the truth. I knew the real reason you vere in America. You vere a mutant and you vere going to help a group of mutants at a school. You vere going to fight for peace and justice."

Peter had begun to say something. He had never meant for anyone to lie to Ana, he had cared about her and was afraid that she was angry at him for the trickery, but Ana continued her flash back in time.

"I knew because I saw you vone day in the barn. I had come out to the barn to return the chickens' feeding pail, and I saw you vere tending to a cow vith a broken leg. I vas about to say hello, vhen I saw you pick it up to move it. You vere…" she struggled for a moment, trying to find the right word out of the sea of words of a language she only roughly knew. "in your special armor. I vas afraid at first, so I hid behind a stable door, but I watched as you gently moved it and became normal again only to bind it's leg and move it. It vas zhen I knew. I saw who you truly vere. I saw that no matter the amount of raw strength you possessed, you vere still so kind," she turned to face him and smiled in an almost sad way "so gentle. That you vere truly a good man." She put her head down and starred at the ground.

Peter felt tense, if not almost frightened. Her words were meant to be calming, but in some way, they were more disturbing than anything else. She had told her story in a sorrowful way, as if she bared some kind of burden. There was something she wasn't telling him, and whatever it was, it was weighing heavily on her mind.

"Anastasia," he began, his face tinted with worry.

"I learned English for a reason Nikolaievitch." She turned to look directly in his eyes. "I knew you vere coming."

Peter's eyes grew wide at the Russian girl as she sat there starring hard at him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but again she cut him off.

"I have changed a lot since you left. It turns out you aren't the only vone in the collective that vas a mutant. No vone else knows. Not even mama. It vas shortly after you left, I started to have terrible dreams about people coming to visit me, only zhese people veren't ordinary people. Zhey vere people like you're Nana-"

"How do you know about her? She died before you were born, I barely even remember her myself!" interrupted Peter in a startled voice. He was shocked by everything the girl had sprung on him in the dim moments of the night, when he was already nervous about being home again.

"Dead people, Nikolaievitch. Zhose vere the people that haunted me in my dreams, but it turned out zhey veren't just dreams, but somezhing much more." She paused for a deep breath. "Nikolaievitch, I can speak vith zhose who have passed on. I can even make zhem tangible to the vorld for a little vhile. You see, I knew you vere coming because zhey told me. Zhey know zhings like that." Now finished, she watched for Peter's reaction.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, and even a little horror. She now carried the same burden he did only in another form. He had never really had trouble being a mutant, until he saw what it had done to his family, and especially his sister. He couldn't even bare imagining what it might do to Ana. She was now subject to the worlds' torment and other mutants' corruption, and in many ways he felt responsible. As if no matter how hard he fought, he was never truly on the 'right side'. Now Ana would be a part of all this mess too.

"I vant to help you Nikolaievitch. You and the X-Men. I have abilities now, I vant to join you in your mission. I vant to go back to America vith you and do somezhing amazing. I know vhat happened to your family, and I vant to put an end zhings like that." Her voice held conviction as she gazed off into the darkness of the barn above her, where the lamp light couldn't reach. She was dreaming of heroics, of saving the world. Dreaming as Peter once dreamt. Before the world that he had worked to save so many time took what he held dear to him. He couldn't let that happen her. He just couldn't.


	4. Unveiled

Disclaimer: X-Men and everything else belongs to Marvel

This is not a good chapter. It's not particularly good for several reasons. One of them being that I did this in a rush because I SERIOUSLY needed to update the story. Another reason is that I'm at a block and the flow isn't quite what I'd like it to be. Hopefully things will improve in the future.

Chapter #4: Unveiled

"Everyone needs to be up and ready to move NOW!" shouted Scott as the small team of X-Men began to stir in the cramped living room of the tiny cottage. A few groans and yawns were audible in the otherwise quiet room.

"Ve have supplies ready. Ve will have to go by foot. No one in the village has a snowmobile and sleds are almost useless in zhis kind of veather." Ana said to Scott as the group readied themselves. She had been ready for hours, taking care of the every day chores and activities that had to be done, and now she was eager to get on with her anticipated adventure. "What it is it you are looking for exactly?" She asked watching Scott's face with intent. He lifted his brow at her as he continued to over see the groups progress.

"We are looking for something very dangerous. It is imperative that we find it or the safety of many lives could be at stake." He answered sternly. He had no intensions of telling her any of the details of their mission and was going to see that the girl was dealt with quickly. He couldn't afford another person to look after, especially one with out any training or useful abilities. She would go as far as the end of the village with them before he would tell her that she would no longer be needed.

"Zhat still doesn't tell me what you're looking for." Ana replied flatly. She knew that he saw her as nothing more than a liability, but she also knew that he was going to need her help. "I can help you, you know. Sabertooth is going to be an especially formidable opponent in zhis kind of surrounding. And vith Magneto's help, it's hard to say exactly how strong he'll be. You've never fought him like zhis. You're going to need all the help you can get." She said in an assured voice. She would catch him off guard. It was the only way to convince a person as stubborn as Scott.

With his mouth open, the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops starred at the lean, dark haired girl. She had known about the mission. Not only had she known about the mission but she also knew a decent amount about what they were up against. Scott hadn't even told the rest of the team about Magneto's involvement and yet Ana had explained it all to him.

"I don't know who told you about the mission, but this is serious. This isn't a chance to stab at being a hero. You aren't trained and you don't have…"

"No vone told me anything. I know things Scott. I'm like you, like you're X-Men. I'm telling you I can help. I don't know Magneto's entire plan yet, but it's only a matter of time before I do and zhen I give you something to go by. Even your professor doesn't know vhy he sent Sabertooth here. Please Scott. Let me help." Her eyes almost begged him as she explained. This was no longer a matter of a little girl wanting to save the day. If she was truly a mutant then he had other things to think about. There was too much to sort out and he had little time to think about them.

Cyclops knew he had a decision to make. She was stubborn as well, but if she was telling him the truth then there was the potential for her to be a great deal of help, and he was curious about her acclaimed abilities. His eyes looked her over with slight suspicion. "We can start with everything you know about Magneto's plan and work from there. I'm not promising you anything, but it is important I see what you're capable of." He said through utter sternness. He knew that the possibility for mistakes was always hanging over him, but he figured it would be a bigger risk ignoring the girl completely as well.

"There are a few things that have just been brought to my attention. We might be heading out later than we had originally planned." Scott said loudly to the rest of the lingering X-Men. Peter's head jerked up to look directly at Ana as the rest of the group glanced around at each other. The mission was quickly turning into something more serious than anyone had intended or wanted it to be.


End file.
